BRUSSELS, 22 February 2005 — US President George W. Bush sought yesterday to win over Europeans critical of the Iraq war to a wider campaign for Middle East democracy, pledging to work for Israeli-Palestinian peace and assailing Syria and Iran.
Greeted by thousands of protesters demonstrating outside the US Embassy, riot-prepared police, backed up by a helicopter overhead, prevented demonstrators from approaching the diplomatic mission, although the protest remained peaceful.
“Bush killer” was among slogans chanted by the protesters, organized by an umbrella group called Stop Bush, which includes pacifist, human rights and environmental organizations.
In a keynote speech in Brussels, home of the European Union and NATO, Bush pledged on the first day of a European tour to work in partnership with a united Europe in implicit contrast to the much-criticized go-it-alone thrust of his first term.
Bush’s blunt warnings to Syria to get out of Lebanon and to Iran to end its nuclear ambitions — and to both to stop what he called their support for terrorism — struck a tough tone that may alarm European publics which strongly opposed the Iraq war.
“The free world shares a common goal. For the sake of peace, the Iranian regime must end its support for terrorism and must not develop nuclear weapons,” he said at the Concert Noble, an opulent gala venue.
Responding to the Europeans’ most pressing priority, Bush pledged to work for Israeli-Palestinian peace, a cause many allies felt he neglected in his first term.
“Our greatest opportunity and immediate goal is peace in the Middle East. After many false starts and dashed hopes and stolen lives, a settlement of the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians is now within reach,” he said.
The creation of a democratic Palestinian state could add to the momentum of reform throughout the broader Middle East, he said, calling for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to seize the moment at a March 1 London conference on Palestinian reform.
He also urged Israel to stop building Jewish settlements and ensure a Palestinian state was viable with contiguous territory in the West Bank and not scattered pockets of land.
Just days before he was to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Bush scolded Moscow over a series of recent steps widely seen as autocratic and explicitly tied democratic reforms to Russia’s relations with the West. “Russia’s future lies within the family of Europe and the trans-Atlantic community,” he said. “Yet for Russia to make progress as a European nation, the Russian government must renew a commitment to democracy and the rule of law.
“And the United States and all European countries should place democratic reform at the heart of their dialogue with Russia,” said Bush, who was to hold talks with Putin in the Sloval capital Bratislava on Thursday.
Alarm bells rang in the United States after Putin’s moves against the oil giant Yukos, a clampdown on the media, new Kremlin authority to appoint regional officials and alleged interference in Ukraine’s presidential election.
“We recognize that reform will not happen overnight. We must always remind Russia, however, that our alliance stands for a free press, a vital opposition, the sharing of power, and the rule of law,” said the US president.
Bush also had some of his warmest words yet for the European Union as he prepared to host a peacemaking dinner with French President Jacques Chirac, who has said the EU may serve as a global counterweight to the United States.
“America supports a strong Europe, because we need a strong partner in the hard work of advancing freedom and peace in the world,” said Bush, who sought to downplay the deep transatlantic divisions over the war in Iraq.
“Our strong friendship is essential to peace and prosperity across the globe, and no temporary debate, no passing disagreement of governments, no power on Earth will ever divide us,” he said.
“Now is the time for established democracies to give tangible political, economic and security assistance to the world’s newest democracy,” he said.
Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt, whose country was among the critics of the US war against Iraq, introduced Bush and called for an end to the frequently nasty debate over the March 2003 invasion to topple Saddam Hussein.
“The time has come to draw a line under the tensions of the recent past. It makes little sense to continue arguing about who was right and who was wrong.”
Bush responded: “As past debates fade, and great duties become clear, let us begin a new era of transatlantic unity.”
Those who had fought to “liberate” Iraq and those who had not should unite now to “give tangible political, economic and security assistance to the world’s newest democracy,” he said.
Bush was to travel to Germany on Wednesday for talks with German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder before heading to Bratislava to see Putin for their first meeting since a falling out over contested presidential elections in Ukraine.
